RAE results confirm international standing and excellence

87% of staff were returned within departments where 50% or more of the activity is rated 3* and 4*
20% awarded highest accolade of "world leading" (4*)

The results of the 2008 Research Assessment exercise, announced on December 18th 2008, have placed the School firmly in the top 10-20 groupings across all subject areas. The Exercise rated 88 per cent of our research as of international quality, and 20 per cent was awarded the highest accolade of ‘world leading’ and given 4 stars.

As a result of the RAE assessments, our analysis shows that the Departments of Politics, Sociology and Philosophy, and, Classics and Ancient History, are ranked inside the top ten for research in these subjects among all UK universities. The table below provides our preliminary analysis of our UK wide rankings based on proportion of international (3* and 4*) research. You can click each subject area to link to their specific web pages.

Department	Ranking on 4* research only ("world leading")	Ranking on 3* and 4* research (international)	%age of staff returned (intensity)
Institute of Arab and Islamic Studies	7th	8th	91%
Classics and Ancient History	3rd	7th	100%
History	23rd	19th	99%
Politics	6th	9th	97%
Sociology and Philosophy	13th	6th	96%
Theology	17th	14th	91%

The table also provides a measure of research intensity, that is, the proportion of staff returned within the unit. The evidence shows that not only are our scholars performing at the highest levels among their peers, but that our departments have strength and depth across all staffing levels in the department. Ensuring that students, as well as other academics, have opportunities to work with world leading scholars is at the heart of our commitment to the student experience and research led-teaching.

The Head of School, Professor Tim Dunne said, “This is a solid performance across the School and confirms international excellence can be found right across the Humanities and Social Sciences at Exeter. Clear top 10 performances in half our disciplines, 88% international rated research overall, alongside high levels of research intensity are testament to the immensely talented researchers in our disciplinary communities. Combined with consistently good results in the NSS, and outstanding performance in competitive research tenders (earnings about £8M annually), the RAE 2008 result completes the picture of excellence and strength in depth in this School.”

Exeter was one of 159 higher education institutions submitted to the RAE which measures the quality of research across the higher education sector. RAE expert panels assessed more than 200,000 pieces of work from 52,500 staff. The results will be used to distribute £1.5 billion a year worth of research funding to UK universities from August 2009.

Since the last RAE in 2001 Exeter has shown significant improvements in:

The amount of internationally-rated research: more than 90 per cent is now internationally rated compared to 57 per cent in 2001.
The number of staff submitted: Exeter submitted 636 staff compared to 457 in 2001. Some 95% of staff were submitted which is amongst the highest in the sector.
The proportion of research in the very highest 4* category: now 17 per cent compared to 2 per cent in 2001.

The Vice-Chancellor of the University of Exeter Professor Steve Smith said: ‘These results show a significant improvement since 2001. Particularly pleasing is the increase in the amount of 4* rated research. We have achieved our targets in terms of research outputs and we will be looking to build on this result as we go forward.’

The RAE rates research across a five point scale ranging from ungraded to 4*. The higher the grade the more research funding is achieved. Grades 2*, 3* and 4* denote ascending grades of international research quality. 34 per cent of research at Exeter falls into 2*, 39 per cent at 3* and 17 per cent at 4*.

RAE results confirm international standing and excellence

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